Do they serve as a compass for your organization? A manifesto? Do they hold any weight at all or are they meaningless words on a wall in the lobby of your building? Even worse, are the actions of your organization so misaligned with your “values” that people actually make jokes about it?

In the organizational development field, and particularly in my work in organizational culture, the importance of a solid set of core values, fundamental beliefs about what “right” looks like, in your company cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, many companies today still struggle to create meaningful values in their organizations despite their best efforts.

Rather than actionable corporate values statements that truly capture the essence of the organization, leaders often lean on single, powerful words or phrases that they think people want to hear. Examples of this might be “Integrity, Community or Service.” They look good. They sound good. But they are all but meaningless if people within the organization fail to live them in their day-to-day interactions.

Ideally, an organization’s core values explicitly define how people will behave with each other and with customers. When values succeed, the daily behaviors of your people will embody the core values you set forth. When they fall flat, as Patrick M. Lencioni wrote in his Harvard Business Review article on the topic, “Empty values statements create cynical and dispirited employees, alienate customers, and undermine managerial credibility.”

When your culture and values don’t align, your employees, customers and bottom-line business performance may suffer. So, how do you create values statements that will help align your employees and organizational culture in order to drive performance?

Creating More Meaningful Values Statements

I recently read a fascinating article by my colleague Levi Nieminen, Director of Research and Development at Denison Consulting. In it, he outlines two tests business leaders can take to pressure test their organizational values to help ensure they aren’t “bland, toothless or just plain dishonest.”

Here is what he offers:

1. Avoid the “feel-goods.” This is based on the idea that values cannot be battle-tested by success. Rather, companies should think about their values in relation to difficult situations they’ve faced.

“Recall the three most challenging situations your organization [or team, etc.] has faced in the last few years and what the organization did in response to these situations. Now answer the following question: Do the values help to make sense of what was done and why?”

If the honest answer is no, it may be time to reexamine what’s really valued in your organization. By trying to develop a set of values that can be used as a framework to guide decision-making, leaders can help their teams understand why decisions are being made.

2. Look at the “illogical” side. Many organizations today are moving away from values-based decision-making in favor of big data and analytics. But, in the absence of hard data we have to fall back on something to serve as our guide for action.

When data isn’t present, or we don’t have all the facts, we have no choice but the fall back on our values.

“Recall the last three times when your organization [or team] made a decision ‘shooting from the hip,’ that is, when you didn’t have the intel that you wanted. In each case, describe the decision that was made and how the decision was reached. Now answer the following question: Do the values help you to explain or justify what was decided and why?”

There is a lot of value in quantitative data analysis and the information it provides, but data is becoming increasing more accessible to people as time goes on. Meaning, you and all your competitors will likely have access to identical data to inform your decisions.

When that playing field of available information is level, the “illogical,” human-side of your decisions will ultimately be what sets you apart from the competition.

Values With Teeth

Values are meant to be more than a poster on the wall.

In order to create values that succeed in driving behavior in your company, you must start thinking critically about how they will inform your culture, decisions that are made on a daily basis and the behaviors that they will drive in the field. Consider how the policies you have in place will help support them, and ensure your leadership team is both communicating and exemplifying your values to your team.

Don’t expect employees to rally around a set of hollow values when those ideas aren’t practiced and upheld by the leaders in your organization. Your organization will be better for considering these exercises, and determining whether or not your values really have any teeth.

I’m a partner and founder of gothamCulture, a management consulting firm that empowers leaders to drive change in their organizations through the lens of culture and strategy. My extensive experience in both internal and external consulting roles, as well as leadership roles...